diff --git a/src/pkg/strconv/Makefile b/src/pkg/strconv/Makefile
index 823355d858..f4e4dfb533 100644
--- a/src/pkg/strconv/Makefile
+++ b/src/pkg/strconv/Makefile
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ GOFILES=\
 	atof.go\
 	atoi.go\
 	decimal.go\
+	extfloat.go\
 	ftoa.go\
 	itoa.go\
 	quote.go\
diff --git a/src/pkg/strconv/atof.go b/src/pkg/strconv/atof.go
index 8bda89088b..42fc431db8 100644
--- a/src/pkg/strconv/atof.go
+++ b/src/pkg/strconv/atof.go
@@ -263,6 +263,18 @@ func (d *decimal) atof32int() float32 {
 	return f
 }
 
+// Reads a uint64 decimal mantissa, which might be truncated.
+func (d *decimal) atou64() (mant uint64, digits int) {
+	const uint64digits = 19
+	for i, c := range d.d[:d.nd] {
+		if i == uint64digits {
+			return mant, i
+		}
+		mant = 10*mant + uint64(c-'0')
+	}
+	return mant, d.nd
+}
+
 // Exact powers of 10.
 var float64pow10 = []float64{
 	1e0, 1e1, 1e2, 1e3, 1e4, 1e5, 1e6, 1e7, 1e8, 1e9,
@@ -375,6 +387,17 @@ func atof64(s string) (f float64, err error) {
 		if f, ok := d.atof64(); ok {
 			return f, nil
 		}
+
+		// Try another fast path.
+		ext := new(extFloat)
+		if ok := ext.AssignDecimal(&d); ok {
+			b, ovf := ext.floatBits()
+			f = math.Float64frombits(b)
+			if ovf {
+				err = rangeError(fnParseFloat, s)
+			}
+			return f, err
+		}
 	}
 	b, ovf := d.floatBits(&float64info)
 	f = math.Float64frombits(b)
diff --git a/src/pkg/strconv/atof_test.go b/src/pkg/strconv/atof_test.go
index 4d5ce1714f..e68634c0d8 100644
--- a/src/pkg/strconv/atof_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/strconv/atof_test.go
@@ -5,9 +5,12 @@
 package strconv_test
 
 import (
+	"math"
+	"math/rand"
 	"reflect"
 	. "strconv"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 )
 
 type atofTest struct {
@@ -113,6 +116,17 @@ var atoftests = []atofTest{
 	{"2.2250738585072011e-308", "2.225073858507201e-308", nil},
 }
 
+type atofSimpleTest struct {
+	x float64
+	s string
+}
+
+var (
+	atofRandomTests        []atofSimpleTest
+	benchmarksRandomBits   [1024]string
+	benchmarksRandomNormal [1024]string
+)
+
 func init() {
 	// The atof routines return NumErrors wrapping
 	// the error and the string.  Convert the table above.
@@ -122,6 +136,31 @@ func init() {
 			test.err = &NumError{"ParseFloat", test.in, test.err}
 		}
 	}
+
+	// Generate random inputs for tests and benchmarks
+	rand.Seed(time.Now().UnixNano())
+	if testing.Short() {
+		atofRandomTests = make([]atofSimpleTest, 100)
+	} else {
+		atofRandomTests = make([]atofSimpleTest, 10000)
+	}
+	for i := range atofRandomTests {
+		n := uint64(rand.Uint32())<<32 | uint64(rand.Uint32())
+		x := math.Float64frombits(n)
+		s := FormatFloat(x, 'g', -1, 64)
+		atofRandomTests[i] = atofSimpleTest{x, s}
+	}
+
+	for i := range benchmarksRandomBits {
+		bits := uint64(rand.Uint32())<<32 | uint64(rand.Uint32())
+		x := math.Float64frombits(bits)
+		benchmarksRandomBits[i] = FormatFloat(x, 'g', -1, 64)
+	}
+
+	for i := range benchmarksRandomNormal {
+		x := rand.NormFloat64()
+		benchmarksRandomNormal[i] = FormatFloat(x, 'g', -1, 64)
+	}
 }
 
 func testAtof(t *testing.T, opt bool) {
@@ -156,6 +195,19 @@ func TestAtof(t *testing.T) { testAtof(t, true) }
 
 func TestAtofSlow(t *testing.T) { testAtof(t, false) }
 
+func TestAtofRandom(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, test := range atofRandomTests {
+		x, _ := ParseFloat(test.s, 64)
+		switch {
+		default:
+			t.Errorf("number %s badly parsed as %b (expected %b)", test.s, test.x, x)
+		case x == test.x:
+		case math.IsNaN(test.x) && math.IsNaN(x):
+		}
+	}
+	t.Logf("tested %d random numbers", len(atofRandomTests))
+}
+
 func BenchmarkAtof64Decimal(b *testing.B) {
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
 		ParseFloat("33909", 64)
@@ -179,3 +231,15 @@ func BenchmarkAtof64Big(b *testing.B) {
 		ParseFloat("123456789123456789123456789", 64)
 	}
 }
+
+func BenchmarkAtof64RandomBits(b *testing.B) {
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		ParseFloat(benchmarksRandomBits[i%1024], 64)
+	}
+}
+
+func BenchmarkAtof64RandomFloats(b *testing.B) {
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		ParseFloat(benchmarksRandomNormal[i%1024], 64)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/pkg/strconv/extfloat.go b/src/pkg/strconv/extfloat.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5f66dc6239
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pkg/strconv/extfloat.go
@@ -0,0 +1,311 @@
+// Copyright 2011 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package strconv
+
+import "math"
+
+// An extFloat represents an extended floating-point number, with more
+// precision than a float64. It does not try to save bits: the
+// number represented by the structure is mant*(2^exp), with a negative
+// sign if neg is true.
+type extFloat struct {
+	mant uint64
+	exp  int
+	neg  bool
+}
+
+// Powers of ten taken from double-conversion library.
+// http://code.google.com/p/double-conversion/
+const (
+	firstPowerOfTen = -348
+	stepPowerOfTen  = 8
+)
+
+var smallPowersOfTen = [...]extFloat{
+	{1 << 63, -63, false},        // 1
+	{0xa << 60, -60, false},      // 1e1
+	{0x64 << 57, -57, false},     // 1e2
+	{0x3e8 << 54, -54, false},    // 1e3
+	{0x2710 << 50, -50, false},   // 1e4
+	{0x186a0 << 47, -47, false},  // 1e5
+	{0xf4240 << 44, -44, false},  // 1e6
+	{0x989680 << 40, -40, false}, // 1e7
+}
+
+var powersOfTen = [...]extFloat{
+	{0xfa8fd5a0081c0288, -1220, false}, // 10^-348
+	{0xbaaee17fa23ebf76, -1193, false}, // 10^-340
+	{0x8b16fb203055ac76, -1166, false}, // 10^-332
+	{0xcf42894a5dce35ea, -1140, false}, // 10^-324
+	{0x9a6bb0aa55653b2d, -1113, false}, // 10^-316
+	{0xe61acf033d1a45df, -1087, false}, // 10^-308
+	{0xab70fe17c79ac6ca, -1060, false}, // 10^-300
+	{0xff77b1fcbebcdc4f, -1034, false}, // 10^-292
+	{0xbe5691ef416bd60c, -1007, false}, // 10^-284
+	{0x8dd01fad907ffc3c, -980, false},  // 10^-276
+	{0xd3515c2831559a83, -954, false},  // 10^-268
+	{0x9d71ac8fada6c9b5, -927, false},  // 10^-260
+	{0xea9c227723ee8bcb, -901, false},  // 10^-252
+	{0xaecc49914078536d, -874, false},  // 10^-244
+	{0x823c12795db6ce57, -847, false},  // 10^-236
+	{0xc21094364dfb5637, -821, false},  // 10^-228
+	{0x9096ea6f3848984f, -794, false},  // 10^-220
+	{0xd77485cb25823ac7, -768, false},  // 10^-212
+	{0xa086cfcd97bf97f4, -741, false},  // 10^-204
+	{0xef340a98172aace5, -715, false},  // 10^-196
+	{0xb23867fb2a35b28e, -688, false},  // 10^-188
+	{0x84c8d4dfd2c63f3b, -661, false},  // 10^-180
+	{0xc5dd44271ad3cdba, -635, false},  // 10^-172
+	{0x936b9fcebb25c996, -608, false},  // 10^-164
+	{0xdbac6c247d62a584, -582, false},  // 10^-156
+	{0xa3ab66580d5fdaf6, -555, false},  // 10^-148
+	{0xf3e2f893dec3f126, -529, false},  // 10^-140
+	{0xb5b5ada8aaff80b8, -502, false},  // 10^-132
+	{0x87625f056c7c4a8b, -475, false},  // 10^-124
+	{0xc9bcff6034c13053, -449, false},  // 10^-116
+	{0x964e858c91ba2655, -422, false},  // 10^-108
+	{0xdff9772470297ebd, -396, false},  // 10^-100
+	{0xa6dfbd9fb8e5b88f, -369, false},  // 10^-92
+	{0xf8a95fcf88747d94, -343, false},  // 10^-84
+	{0xb94470938fa89bcf, -316, false},  // 10^-76
+	{0x8a08f0f8bf0f156b, -289, false},  // 10^-68
+	{0xcdb02555653131b6, -263, false},  // 10^-60
+	{0x993fe2c6d07b7fac, -236, false},  // 10^-52
+	{0xe45c10c42a2b3b06, -210, false},  // 10^-44
+	{0xaa242499697392d3, -183, false},  // 10^-36
+	{0xfd87b5f28300ca0e, -157, false},  // 10^-28
+	{0xbce5086492111aeb, -130, false},  // 10^-20
+	{0x8cbccc096f5088cc, -103, false},  // 10^-12
+	{0xd1b71758e219652c, -77, false},   // 10^-4
+	{0x9c40000000000000, -50, false},   // 10^4
+	{0xe8d4a51000000000, -24, false},   // 10^12
+	{0xad78ebc5ac620000, 3, false},     // 10^20
+	{0x813f3978f8940984, 30, false},    // 10^28
+	{0xc097ce7bc90715b3, 56, false},    // 10^36
+	{0x8f7e32ce7bea5c70, 83, false},    // 10^44
+	{0xd5d238a4abe98068, 109, false},   // 10^52
+	{0x9f4f2726179a2245, 136, false},   // 10^60
+	{0xed63a231d4c4fb27, 162, false},   // 10^68
+	{0xb0de65388cc8ada8, 189, false},   // 10^76
+	{0x83c7088e1aab65db, 216, false},   // 10^84
+	{0xc45d1df942711d9a, 242, false},   // 10^92
+	{0x924d692ca61be758, 269, false},   // 10^100
+	{0xda01ee641a708dea, 295, false},   // 10^108
+	{0xa26da3999aef774a, 322, false},   // 10^116
+	{0xf209787bb47d6b85, 348, false},   // 10^124
+	{0xb454e4a179dd1877, 375, false},   // 10^132
+	{0x865b86925b9bc5c2, 402, false},   // 10^140
+	{0xc83553c5c8965d3d, 428, false},   // 10^148
+	{0x952ab45cfa97a0b3, 455, false},   // 10^156
+	{0xde469fbd99a05fe3, 481, false},   // 10^164
+	{0xa59bc234db398c25, 508, false},   // 10^172
+	{0xf6c69a72a3989f5c, 534, false},   // 10^180
+	{0xb7dcbf5354e9bece, 561, false},   // 10^188
+	{0x88fcf317f22241e2, 588, false},   // 10^196
+	{0xcc20ce9bd35c78a5, 614, false},   // 10^204
+	{0x98165af37b2153df, 641, false},   // 10^212
+	{0xe2a0b5dc971f303a, 667, false},   // 10^220
+	{0xa8d9d1535ce3b396, 694, false},   // 10^228
+	{0xfb9b7cd9a4a7443c, 720, false},   // 10^236
+	{0xbb764c4ca7a44410, 747, false},   // 10^244
+	{0x8bab8eefb6409c1a, 774, false},   // 10^252
+	{0xd01fef10a657842c, 800, false},   // 10^260
+	{0x9b10a4e5e9913129, 827, false},   // 10^268
+	{0xe7109bfba19c0c9d, 853, false},   // 10^276
+	{0xac2820d9623bf429, 880, false},   // 10^284
+	{0x80444b5e7aa7cf85, 907, false},   // 10^292
+	{0xbf21e44003acdd2d, 933, false},   // 10^300
+	{0x8e679c2f5e44ff8f, 960, false},   // 10^308
+	{0xd433179d9c8cb841, 986, false},   // 10^316
+	{0x9e19db92b4e31ba9, 1013, false},  // 10^324
+	{0xeb96bf6ebadf77d9, 1039, false},  // 10^332
+	{0xaf87023b9bf0ee6b, 1066, false},  // 10^340
+}
+
+// floatBits returns the bits of the float64 that best approximates
+// the extFloat passed as receiver. Overflow is set to true if
+// the resulting float64 is ±Inf.
+func (f *extFloat) floatBits() (bits uint64, overflow bool) {
+	flt := &float64info
+	f.Normalize()
+
+	exp := f.exp + 63
+
+	// Exponent too small.
+	if exp < flt.bias+1 {
+		n := flt.bias + 1 - exp
+		f.mant >>= uint(n)
+		exp += n
+	}
+
+	// Extract 1+flt.mantbits bits.
+	mant := f.mant >> (63 - flt.mantbits)
+	if f.mant&(1<<(62-flt.mantbits)) != 0 {
+		// Round up.
+		mant += 1
+	}
+
+	// Rounding might have added a bit; shift down.
+	if mant == 2<<flt.mantbits {
+		mant >>= 1
+		exp++
+	}
+
+	// Infinities.
+	if exp-flt.bias >= 1<<flt.expbits-1 {
+		goto overflow
+	}
+
+	// Denormalized?
+	if mant&(1<<flt.mantbits) == 0 {
+		exp = flt.bias
+	}
+	goto out
+
+overflow:
+	// ±Inf
+	mant = 0
+	exp = 1<<flt.expbits - 1 + flt.bias
+	overflow = true
+
+out:
+	// Assemble bits.
+	bits = mant & (uint64(1)<<flt.mantbits - 1)
+	bits |= uint64((exp-flt.bias)&(1<<flt.expbits-1)) << flt.mantbits
+	if f.neg {
+		bits |= 1 << (flt.mantbits + flt.expbits)
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+// Assign sets f to the value of x.
+func (f *extFloat) Assign(x float64) {
+	if x < 0 {
+		x = -x
+		f.neg = true
+	}
+	x, f.exp = math.Frexp(x)
+	f.mant = uint64(x * float64(1<<64))
+	f.exp -= 64
+}
+
+// Normalize normalizes f so that the highest bit of the mantissa is
+// set, and returns the number by which the mantissa was left-shifted.
+func (f *extFloat) Normalize() uint {
+	if f.mant == 0 {
+		return 0
+	}
+	exp_before := f.exp
+	for f.mant < (1 << 55) {
+		f.mant <<= 8
+		f.exp -= 8
+	}
+	for f.mant < (1 << 63) {
+		f.mant <<= 1
+		f.exp -= 1
+	}
+	return uint(exp_before - f.exp)
+}
+
+// Multiply sets f to the product f*g: the result is correctly rounded,
+// but not normalized.
+func (f *extFloat) Multiply(g extFloat) {
+	fhi, flo := f.mant>>32, uint64(uint32(f.mant))
+	ghi, glo := g.mant>>32, uint64(uint32(g.mant))
+
+	// Cross products.
+	cross1 := fhi * glo
+	cross2 := flo * ghi
+
+	// f.mant*g.mant is fhi*ghi << 64 + (cross1+cross2) << 32 + flo*glo
+	f.mant = fhi*ghi + (cross1 >> 32) + (cross2 >> 32)
+	rem := uint64(uint32(cross1)) + uint64(uint32(cross2)) + ((flo * glo) >> 32)
+	// Round up.
+	rem += (1 << 31)
+
+	f.mant += (rem >> 32)
+	f.exp = f.exp + g.exp + 64
+}
+
+var uint64pow10 = [...]uint64{
+	1, 1e1, 1e2, 1e3, 1e4, 1e5, 1e6, 1e7, 1e8, 1e9,
+	1e10, 1e11, 1e12, 1e13, 1e14, 1e15, 1e16, 1e17, 1e18, 1e19,
+}
+
+// AssignDecimal sets f to an approximate value of the decimal d. It
+// returns true if the value represented by f is guaranteed to be the
+// best approximation of d after being rounded to a float64. 
+func (f *extFloat) AssignDecimal(d *decimal) (ok bool) {
+	const uint64digits = 19
+	const errorscale = 8
+	mant10, digits := d.atou64()
+	exp10 := d.dp - digits
+	errors := 0 // An upper bound for error, computed in errorscale*ulp.
+
+	if digits < d.nd {
+		// the decimal number was truncated.
+		errors += errorscale / 2
+	}
+
+	f.mant = mant10
+	f.exp = 0
+	f.neg = d.neg
+
+	// Multiply by powers of ten.
+	i := (exp10 - firstPowerOfTen) / stepPowerOfTen
+	if exp10 < firstPowerOfTen || i >= len(powersOfTen) {
+		return false
+	}
+	adjExp := (exp10 - firstPowerOfTen) % stepPowerOfTen
+
+	// We multiply by exp%step
+	if digits+adjExp <= uint64digits {
+		// We can multiply the mantissa
+		f.mant *= uint64(float64pow10[adjExp])
+		f.Normalize()
+	} else {
+		f.Normalize()
+		f.Multiply(smallPowersOfTen[adjExp])
+		errors += errorscale / 2
+	}
+
+	// We multiply by 10 to the exp - exp%step.
+	f.Multiply(powersOfTen[i])
+	if errors > 0 {
+		errors += 1
+	}
+	errors += errorscale / 2
+
+	// Normalize
+	shift := f.Normalize()
+	errors <<= shift
+
+	// Now f is a good approximation of the decimal.
+	// Check whether the error is too large: that is, if the mantissa
+	// is perturbated by the error, the resulting float64 will change.
+	// The 64 bits mantissa is 1 + 52 bits for float64 + 11 extra bits.
+	//
+	// In many cases the approximation will be good enough.
+	const denormalExp = -1023 - 63
+	flt := &float64info
+	var extrabits uint
+	if f.exp <= denormalExp || f.exp >= 1023-64 {
+		extrabits = uint(63 - flt.mantbits + 1 + uint(denormalExp-f.exp))
+	} else {
+		extrabits = uint(63 - flt.mantbits)
+	}
+
+	halfway := uint64(1) << (extrabits - 1)
+	mant_extra := f.mant & (1<<extrabits - 1)
+
+	// Do a signed comparison here! If the error estimate could make
+	// the mantissa round differently for the conversion to double,
+	// then we can't give a definite answer.
+	if int64(halfway)-int64(errors) < int64(mant_extra) &&
+		int64(mant_extra) < int64(halfway)+int64(errors) {
+		return false
+	}
+	return true
+}